Glassmaker hopes World Cup will boost recycling

Recyclers are hoping that a good England performance in the World Cup (which starts on Friday 11 June) will boost the amount of glass collected from the public. Glassmakers need the increase to plug a shortfall in the level of glass being returned for recycling into new bottles and jars. O-I, which recycles much of the glass collected from consumers and pubs in southern England at its plant in Harlow, wants to increase the levels of glass, especially clear and brown glass it uses in its furnaces to help the environment. O-I Recycling Manager, Martin Langshaw said, “Whether at home or in the pub, people tend to socialise more and drink more beer, cider and soft drinks during major tournaments. We want to encourage them to drink responsibly and then recycle responsibly.” The British Pub and Beer Association reported that pub revenue jumped £124 million during the last World Cup and supermarket drink sales also rose. A significant proportion of that was sold in glass bottles. Martin Langshaw said, “Glass is the perfect recyclable material: every tonne of glass we put back into our furnaces reduces energy use, saves up to 1.2 tonnes of raw material quarrying and cuts carbon dioxide emissions. Yet too much glass still ends up in landfill or is diverted to less beneficial purposes. Lots of amber glass beer and clear glass soft drinks bottles will be used this World Cup summer; if consumers put pressure on their council, they can make sure that glass comes back to be remelted into a new container.”

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